Table 2.
Characteristics of cohort studies (N = 11)
| Study | No. schools | Type of schools | Size of schools | Non-pharmaceutical interventions (school) | School cluster outbreak (Yes/ No) | Sampling method | Provider testing/ self-testing | Testing method | Follow-up modality | Follow-up frequency | No. index case | Type of Index case | Age | Gender | Contacts (N) | Secondary infected cases (n) | IAR (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
First update (n = 5)
| |||||||||||||||||
| Danis-2020 [13] |
3 |
NA |
NA |
school closed |
No |
nasopharyngeal swabs; endotracheal aspirates |
NA |
real- time RT-PCR |
telephone call |
daily |
1 |
pupil |
9 |
NA |
102 |
0 |
0.00 |
| Heavey-2020 [14] |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
No |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
daily |
6 |
3 pupils; 1 staff; 2 adult visitors |
pupils: 10-15; staff: >18 |
NA |
1155 |
2* |
0.17 |
| Yung-2020 [15] |
3 |
2 preschool; 1 secondary school |
NA |
terminal cleaning of schools; suspension of extracurricular, sport activities; staggered recess breaks |
No |
nasopharyngeal swabs |
provider testing |
real- time RT-PCR |
NA |
NA |
3 |
2 pupils; 1 staff |
pupils: 5, 12; staff: >18 |
NA |
119 |
0 |
0.00 |
| NCIRS-2020 [16] |
6 |
3 primary school; 2 high school; 1 ECEC |
NA |
NA |
No |
nasopharyngeal swabs; serum samples |
provider testing |
nucleic acid testing; SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing |
NA |
NA |
6 |
4 pupils; 2 staff |
pupils: <18; staff: >18 |
NA |
521 |
0 |
0.00 |
| Macartney-2020 [17] |
25 |
15 primary and secondary school; 10 ECEC |
NA |
NA |
Yes |
nasopharyngeal swabs; serum samples |
provider testing |
nucleic acid testing; SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing |
text message; telephone call |
NA |
27 |
12 pupils; 15 staff |
pupils: 14 (1-18) †; staff: 38 (19-65) † |
pupils: 6 male, 6 female; staff: 1 male, 14 female |
1448 |
18 |
1.24 |
|
Second update (n = 6)
| |||||||||||||||||
| Lopez-2020 [24] |
3 |
childcare centre |
NA |
daily temperature and symptom screening; frequent cleaning; staff mandatory masks |
Yes |
nasopharyngeal swabs |
provider testing |
RT-PCR |
NA |
NA |
3 |
staff |
>18 |
NA |
162 |
19 |
11.73 |
| Link-Gelles-2020 [25] |
29 |
childcare centre |
20 persons per child care |
limit to 20 persons; masks for adults; daily symptom screening; cleaning and disinfectant |
Yes |
NA |
provider testing |
RT-PCR |
phone call; text |
phone call (weekly); text (daily) |
52 |
30 pupils; 20 staff; 2 visitor |
pupils: 5 (0.5-12) †; staff: 30 (20-63) † |
pupils: 14 male, 16 female; staff: 1 male, 21 female |
853 |
17 |
1.99 |
| Brown-2020 [26] |
1 |
high school |
NA |
quarantine |
Yes |
serum samples |
provider testing |
ELISA antibody testing |
NA |
NA |
1 |
staff |
>18 |
NA |
21‡ |
1 |
4.76 |
| Larosa-2020 [27] |
36 |
8 Infant-toddler centre and preschool; 10 primary school; 18 secondary school |
NA |
mandatory masks; single desks 1m apart; suspended extra-curricular activities; temporal and spatial pathways for different classes |
Yes |
nasopharyngeal swabs |
provider testing |
NA |
NA |
NA |
43 |
38 pupils; 5 staff |
pupils: <18; staff: >18 |
NA |
1198 |
39 |
3.26 |
| Dub-2020 [28] |
2 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Yes |
nasopharyngeal swabs; serum samples |
provider testing |
RT-PCR; MNT; FMIA |
NA |
NA |
2 |
1 pupil; 1 staff |
pupils: <18; staff: >18 |
NA |
140 |
8 |
5.71 |
| Ehrhardt-2020 [29] | 11 | 3 childcare centre; 1 primary school; 4 secondary school; 3 vocational school | NA | group sizes reduced by 50%; cleaning of contact surfaces; regular and interim ventilation of rooms; exclusion of sick children; individual hygiene (hand hygiene, cough etiquette); face mask outside classroom; physical distancing | Yes | nasopharyngeal swabs | provider testing | NA | NA | NA | 6 | pupils; staff | pupils: <18; staff: >18 | NA | NA | 15 | NA |
ECEC – early childhood education and care setting, IAR – infection attack rate, NA – not available
*In other transmission settings (household, recreactional activities), except school settings.
†Median (range).
‡120 pupils that were in contact with the infected teacher and only 21 were tested. This study is not eligible for meta-analysis.